Wildfire Danger Looms in Australia’s South as Temperatures Soar

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Heatwave conditions that triggered a
wildfire which destroyed more than 50 homes in Australia’s west
are forecast to ignite blazes in the nation’s most densely
populated southeast, with authorities enforcing total fire bans.

Melbourne, the nation’s second-largest city which is
hosting the Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament, is
forecast to reach 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit)
today, with maximum temperatures not expected to dip under 39
degrees Celsius until Jan. 18. An extreme heat warning has been
issued for South Australia’s capital of Adelaide.

Australia’s hot, dry climate makes wildfires a major risk
in the southern hemisphere’s summer, reflected two days ago when
blazes in the Shire of Mundaring on the eastern fringes of Perth
in Western Australia burnt 52 homes, according to authorities.
In February 2009, fires across Melbourne’s Victoria state killed
173 people and destroyed 150 homes in the so-called Black
Saturday blazes, the worst in Australian history.

While temperatures in Western Australia have cooled, the
Mundaring fire is yet to be extinguished, with the state’s
Department of Fire and Emergency Services warning that strong,
gusty winds could cause flare ups.

Total fire bans have been issued today for areas of
Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania states. Australia’s
annual wildfire season had an early start when more than 200
homes were destroyed in October, most in the Blue Mountains
about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Sydney.